CookTeaser

Cathie's Cheese Souffle

RECIPE

Cath’s Cheese Souffle

Serves 2

For as long as I know Cathie she has mastered replicating Julia Child’s Cheese Souffle, from Mastering the Art of French Cooking, volume 1. When we both are all “fooded” out I’d ask, “Hey Cath how about a souffle?”.
This recipe looks complicated, but according to Cathie it’s quite easy.

METHOD Step by Step

Preheat oven to 400 degrees
6 cup soufflé mold
1 TB Butter
2 TB mixture of Swiss & Parmesan Cheese

Butter inside of the souffle mold and sprinkle with Cheese. Save a little of the Cheese to sprinkle on top of the mold as it goes into the oven.

3 TB Butter
3 TB Wondra Flour (I think regular flour is too heavy)
1 Cup of boiling Heavy Cream (or you can use Milk)
1/2 tsp. Salt
1/8 tsp. Pepper
Pinch of Cayenne Pepper
Pinch of Nutmeg

Melt Butter in 2-1/2 qt. Saucepan. Stir in Flour with a wooden spoon and cook over heat until Butter and Flour foam together for 2 minutes without browning. Remove from heat; pour in boiling Cream. Add seasonings. Beat vigorously with wire whip until blended. Return over moderate heat and boil, stirring with whisk, for 1 minute. Sauce will be very thick.

5 Eggs, separated

Immediately start to separate the Eggs. Drop White into a separate bowl and the Yolk into the center of the hot sauce. Beat the Yolk into the sauce and continue in the same manner with the rest of the Eggs. Correct seasoning. (May be prepared ahead to this point. Dot top of sauce with Butter.

The Egg Whites
Pinch of Salt
3/4 C. coarsely grated mix of Swiss & Parmesan or whatever you have on hand

Add pinch of Salt to the Whites and beat until stiff. Stir a big spoonful (about one quarter of the Whites) into the sauce. Stir in the Cheese. Delicately fold in the rest of the Egg Whites. It will not look well mixed, but yellow with crests of white foam.

Turn the mixture into the prepared mold, which should be about 3/4 full. Sprinkle reserved Cheese on top. Set mold on rack in the middle of the oven and immediately turn heat down to 375. (Do not open the door for 20 minutes.) In 30 minutes the soufflé will have puffed up and the top will be nicely browned. Bake 4-5 minutes more to firm it up, then serve at once.

Salad of Romaine Lettuce, Portobello Mushrooms & Shaved Cheese

RECIPE

Romaine Lettuce, Portobello Mushrooms & Parmesan Salad
Late in the afternoon the Romaine was picked from the garden. Searching through the fridge I couldn’t find an appropriate complement to the lettuce.
So I decided to broil three large Portobello Mushrooms & hope for the best. The result was all right but certainly not a winning combination. My advice is to be creative & experiment. There’s usually never anything to lose because most ingredients that can go into a salad contribute a dimension of flavor.

Serves 2

INGREDIENTS For the Salad

1 Head of Romaine
3 Portobello Mushrooms
Olive Oil for the Mushrooms
Parmesan Cheese

INGREDIENTS For the Vinaigrette

1 tsp of EVOO
1/4 tsp of Balsamic Vinegar
1 Large Shallot peeled & thinly sliced.
1/2 tsp of Colman’s Dry Mustard
Salt & fresh Black Pepper

METHOD

1. Set the oven to broil or a BBQ grill to high.
2. Lightly oil the Portobellos on both sides.
3. Broil or grill the Mushrooms cap side up. No need to turn the caps.
4. When cool to the touch cut the Portobellos into 1/4″ slices. Set aside.
5. Cut Romaine into 1″ pieces.
6. With a vegetable peeler take shavings off the Parmesan.
7. Toss the Romaine with the Vinaigrette & plate.
8. On each plate add the Parmesan shavings & the Portobello slices.